the dungeon affect
by Lucario52
Summary: the story of a Riolu with an unusual past his trainer make their way to victory in the annual Pokemon contest.
1. Death

The dungeon affect Chapter one: death...

_I'm driving to... somewhere... A van drives beside me with a gunman in it. I'd seen him before, but this was the first time he was a threat. I knew why he was after me, every one wants to kill the guy with my job. This was the way I had been living for quite some time now, and I had gotten used to escaping death. The only difference was that this time: I didn't escape. I tried to get away, to bring him down, but he got me. Four shots in the gut. I knew I was done for. I rolled to the side of the road, certain to die, wishing that I had never accepted the job._

"Wake up...

Hey...

Get up..." _a voice? But I'm sure I'm dead... or was I dreaming...?_

"**WAKE UP!"**

At this I snapped to and, to my surprise, realized that I was alive. Cold, uncomfortable, and badly hurt, but alive. Getting over my astonishment, I lift my hand to rub the inevitable sand from my eye. Their was something that didn't make sense about my hand, but I blamed it on disorientation. I open my eyes to find that I was in a very large cage, and there were two others next to me.

"**HEY!"**

Ah! To the voice! I looked over to my right to find that the calling had come from a meowth. I had never knew Pokemon to talk before- aside form the occasional psychic type- and that he could even talk was a shock. I of course responded with "Yes?"At that moment I didn't realize it, but my voice was different.

"do you know what happened to you?" The Meowth asked "just look and see what these so called 'peace keepers' did."

Being absolutely dumbfounded by all that just happed in the last minute, I raised my hand to my head to think. With a shock, I realized that it wasn't a hand at all.The revelation hit me like a brick. I lowered this... whatever it was to my field of view, and to my horror: it was blue. Being throughly freaked out at this point, I decided to take a deep breath and approach the situation logically. I looked at what used to be my hand_ m_ore closely. It had three fingers, each with a leathery pad in the middle, as well as another pad where my palm used to be. I turned it over to find that there is what look like bone coming out of the back. The oddest part however, is that it was covered in blue fur, and so was the rest of my arm. This day was just getting weirder by the minute.

"that's right, take it all in" said my cell neighbor. "I's called the dungeon affect. It's what happens to humans when they get killed by Pokémon. Ya see: Pokémon can't technically 'kill' anything, so a very unusual thing happens to humans when a they lose to a Pokémon. Can you even guess?"

Collecting my wit, I thought about it... and gave up. "What?" I asked? "What happens?."

"Something,"he replied with a chuckle "that some consider a blessing, and others consider a curse."

Not wanting to think so soon after the being brought back from the dead I asked him "Please just come out and say it. Solving riddles hurts my head."

"Fair enough," he said "but let me warn you: it's not something that you can just take lightly."

"For all I know, I've just been resurrected." I replied "I think I can handle just about anything at this point."

"Well: first you pass through the eye of Aruseus, but being human he rejects your kind and..."

I interrupted his clearly very long speech with "Please get to the part where you explain why my hands are blue"

"Oh!" he replied "That's easy. Your a Riolu, and you have lost most, if not all of your memory."

"**A What?" **I shouted** "**How did this happen? What is a Riolu? This doesn't make any sense. I was shot in the gut, not attacked by a Pokémon. I doubt the dungeon affect applies to bullets."

"If you will calm down and listen for one minute," he went on "I can explain everything up to now. For starters, my name is Mitchelland I am a conspiracy theorist. I had been following the events that lead up to this for months now. What happed to you, me, and a good chunk of the upper government is what is known project 10962. It is a specialized way of 'killing' someone without leaving a body. They use conventional weapons to bring you within an inch of your life, than finish you off with any Pokémon they have handy. The person turns into a Pokémon, and forensics cant find a body to work with."

His speech seems to make sense, and I began to wake up, so I tried to see what was new about myself. I explored every part I could see, and found that like my hands my feet were covered in fur, and resembled the hind legs of a dog. The difference was that the toe part was allot bigger, probably to support my weight. Having reached what I could see in this dark room, I tried to remember what a Riolu was. What anything was for that matter. I could only remember the events leading up to my "death", and that's foggier than a dream. I turned away from him to collect upon what had just happed.

I sat there and tried to remember why I was "killed" in the first place. I came up with nothing, nothing at all. All I could remember was the moment before I blacked out. Having realized that I couldn't remember anything, I began to panic for about the fifth time in that day. I hopelessly looked through my mind. Tried to remember ANYTHING, but it was all blank. The only thing I could dig up was the word "John". That being a name, I could only imagine that it was mine. I began to settle into the hopelessness of the situation when I felt something odd.

It was like a light born of feeling. I knew for a fact that it was behind me, but their was nothing there but Michell. I focused on this "light" and somehow, I knew that it was afraid. I could feel it's fear as clearly as I could feel my own. I was about to blame this sense on paranoia, but than I noticed my fur. It looked like it was burning with a blue flame. It didn't feel hot at all, but it was definitely there. Noticing it made me lose focus on the sensation behind me. The moment I lost focus on the light, the flame went away. "Huaaa?" I exclaimed, in utter confusion.

"It's called aura," said Michell "Riolus, Lucarios, and very few humans can feel it. Aura is life force of all living things in the form of EM waves. It works the same way a radio system does; the only difference is that my heart the transmitter, and those things on the side of your head are the antenna."

"These?" I said, as I noticed that, sure enough, their were black, tear shaped appendages hanging off the sides of my head.

"It's kind of sad that you know more about me than I do..."

"Yea, but you'll get it eventually. Try focus on my aura,but this time see past the fear."

I turned away again. Intent on mastering this "aura" thing. Once more, I focused on the light behind me, knowing now that it must be Michell. It still shined bright with fear, but their was just a twinkle of hope buried within. I focused on that hope and again I began to burn bright blue. I ignored the flame this time and kept focusing on the hope. As I did so, I began to noticed other life forces around me. Very faint and far away, but definitely there. Could they be other living things? I decided to ask him "Michell? Is there anyone near me besides you?"

"Not that I know of," he responded "but your the one with the sixth sense. You tell me."

I sat against the side of my cage, and closed my eyes. Focusing only on the aura around me, I reached out as far I could. I focused on the closest light and saw that It was in fact another living thing. It felt bored, with just the slightest hint of anticipation. "I've got something" I said to Michell.

"What?" he asked.

"It feels like a guard." I said "Just to the left of the door." I realized with a pleasant shock that I was getting better at this aura thing already.

"you are getting good at this," he complemented "but their's more to aura than just a sixth sense. Try focusing all your energy into your hand."

I took a deep breath and concentrated every feeling I had and everything that I was into the palm of my hand. Just then, the oddest thing happened. I began to burn bright blue again, but that I was getting used to it. What was odd was this: A bright sapphire shine appeared in my palm. The harder I focused on it, the bigger it got, until I sat there holding a blue sphere of pure energy. I stopped focusing on it, but the sphere remained in my hand as if it were a blue ball. " I don't mean to bother you again, but what the heck am I holding?"

"That," he responded with a grin "is what is known as an Aura Sphere. It is your own life force, focused into a solid thing. It thing is part of you, and you may control it however you wish."

"So it's like a fairy or something?" I asked, puzzled.

"No. It goes away once you stop giving it energy. It's not a pet."

"Then what can I do with it?"

"It's a ball: you're supposed to throw it."

"I don't really see how that would benefit anyone here."

"Just throw it against the door and see what happens."

I thought to myself "Hell, why not." and I tossed it against the door. It hit and exploded with the force of a good punch. I think that was the point when I began to understand what the Aura Sphere was for. I just had one question: "Where did the energy for that come from?"

"The power needed to make an Aura Sphere," Explained Michel "comes form your soul. You put a certain amount of energy into an Aura sphere, and you can do with it whatever you could do with that much energy. Punch a door, pick up some keys, move a knob. Very similar to the move Psychic, except that it must start with the energy you intend to use. Keeping this in mind, let's use it to get out of here."

OK... thanks for reading chapter 1. I know you have doubts that aura can really do this, but this is my interpretation on the powers of spiritual energy and I am entitled to an artistic license. Plus, in the anime they are only used for attack. Maby more docile Lucario and Riolu CAN use them as an extension of their hands. You don't know. lol :) also: sorry to the 25 people who are about to get messed up by the change in chapter.


	2. Escape

**Chapter two: Escape**

"So how do you suggest we get out of here?" I asked, hopeful that Michell would have more of a clue than I did.

"Well, you said there was a guard outside the door. Guards have keys... and you have Aura Spheres." he replied with a grin.

"I see where your going with this." I said, understanding his idea. I then proceeded to make another Aura Sphere, this one much bigger than the last. I threw it at the door as hard as I could, and it made a resounding "Thud". Upon hearing the noise, the guard rushed in. The moment he opened the door I pegged him in the face with an Aura Sphere. With him unconscious, I could easily take his keys and unlock my cell. Once I had gotten Michell out we made a run for it, swerving past any other guard that tried to re-capture us. As we ran, we saw a staircase that lead to the roof. With guards close behind, the only choices we had were to fight or jump. Having only JUST learned Aura Sphere, I chose to jump. The next roof was about twelve feet away, but I had confidence in my abilities. I ran twords the edge of the roof at full speed and jumped with all my force. The second I left the ground I saw a quick blue flash, but it was so sudden that I didn't have time to notice. Clearly I had far more strength in this new body, for I not only cleared the gap, but almost flew over the building I was supposed to land on. After rolling to break my fall, I turned around to see Michell land on the other side. He yelled to me "Holy crap! Aura sure dose improve your jump! The explosion at your feet was incredible! Now come on, let's get inside before they get guns."

Having escaped the guards- and being in the safety of the building we had landed on- I chose to ponder my new form. Yesterday I knew who I was down to the very last hair. Now... I didn't even know what I looked like. Knowing that it would drive me crazy if I delayed it any longer, I sought a mirror to behold my new form. Sure enough, their was one laying on it's side in the attic we had stumbled into. I propped it up and took in all that I had become. My real image was much different than I had first come to believe. I hadn't even considered that I would have any black fur, let alone a mask and pants made of it. My ears were pointed, rather than my flat assumption, and I had a collar of yellow fur around my neck. The most astonishing part however were my eyes: They a bright red. The kind that usually scare people, but they weren't frightening. In fact, they were warm, kind, almost inviting. I laughed at the revelation that I was cute. I had never considered that I would resemble an adorable puppy that stands up.

Having fully taken in what I now was, I went over to Michell. There had been something else bothering me too. "Michell?" I asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"You said that the dungeon effect takes away people's memory," I went on "But you know so much about it. It's a conundrum that I haven't been able to get my head around."

"Ah... that. Ya see, unlike you, I wasn't brought straight to that prison the moment I had been killed. I had suspected that I would go down, so I took one piece of information and went over it again and again. That idea was than stuck in my head to the point where not even the dungeon effect could remove it. That idea was my e-mail address. After I woke up as a Pokémon, I saw that email account a million times in my head. I logged onto it and their was an email I had sent to myself titled "if you are now a Pokémon" I read it and it told me everything I know so far. It included how to survive as many different Pokémon, and their different moves. It helped my stay out of capture for a while, but eventually they got me and I ended up in the cage where we met."

"So your telling me you remembered every single Pokémon in detail?"

"No. That would take to long. I only wrote down the ones the dungeon effect might turn me into."

"So that's how you knew so much about me?"

"Exactly. I had extensive files on all the starter Pokémon. Of cores I read the one on Meowth first, but the file on Riolu won my eye, along with several others, so I read it too."

"Thanks. It helps to know as much possible on this thing. I hope that-"

I was about to go on, but I felt a presence of aura. I focused on it and discovered that it was five men, all very angry and worried. Seconds later I herd the jingling of armor. I could tell than that they were more guards coming to take us back. "Michell, we have got to get out of here. Guards are on their way up and they'll be here any second."

Without a moment of to lose, we got up and bolted to the other end on the hallway. Thankfully their was a window and a fire escape. We left just in time for the guards to reach the hallway. We ran down the fire escape as fast as we possibly could, but they were close behind. When we were at about the third floor, they started to shoot at us. When we touched the ground, we sprinted for the nearest ally. With the guards close by, we didn't have time to notice that the ally had a fence blocking it. The moment we recognized the dead end, we decided it would be better to stand and fight. Having a corner between us would give us the element of surprise. Or so I thought.

An arm shot out from the corner and grabbed me by the neck. I hopelessly clutched the hand that held me, trying to think of ways to get out of it's death grip. In my struggle, I could see that they had caught Michell as well. I didn't have much of a memory to have flash before my eyes, so I quickly remembered the lesson on aura. As I began to black out, I went for a last ditch effort: I focused all my energy into my hand at once and pushed it out at the guards arm. What happed was incredibly lucky: my hand exploded in a blue flash, and the guard dropped me. I turned to see him clutching the spot where my paw had exploded. His sleeve was torn and I could see that he was bleeding. I didn't have much time to gawk, for I remembered that the other man still had Michell. Thinking on my toes, I jumped up and grabbed his arm in my teeth. He thrashed about, but I held on until he dropped Michell.

With a quick glance back, we agreed that we had to run before they could regroup. Michell climbed the fence and I leaped over it. We saw the the guards were beginning to figure things out so we made a mad dash around the corner. Knowing that they would be behind us any second, we changed direction as many times as we possibly could.

Once we were convinced we had lost them, we stopped on the sidewalk and rested. "they're... they're not going to stop... stop looking for us... are they?" I asked, gasping between breaths. To exhausted to answer, Michell just shook his head. We went into a coffee shop without a "no pets" sign to catch our breath. We looked cautiously out the window just in time to see three of the five guards run by, asking people if they had seen us. Thankfully nobody had, so Michell sat down and we formed a plan.

Michell looked up at me. "What did you do that messed up that guy's arm so bad?" he asked.

"I don't know. I just flashed aura into my hand and forced it out my palm."

"I've read something like that in my email. I'm pretty sure it's actually called Force Palm. Now that you have two moves you're good at: what do you think we should do? We're clearly too valuable to give up, so I doubt they'll stop searching."

"What more can we do, but run?" I asked, "we should run as far as our legs can curry us. We ought leave now before they get wise. Come on!" At that, Michell groaned, but got up and shook himself of any fatigue that still showed.

So we ran. We had no clue where to go, but anywhere was better than that guard-ridden town. We weren't sprinting from anyone so we could pace ourselves, but not by much. Even though we were just jogging, Michell collapsed when we reached the nearest forest. I dragged him in until we reached a clearing. There we once again caught our breath.

For the third time today, I was thankful for my aura. As we sat in the clearing, I felt the faint glow of two humans. One worried, and one determined. Whoever they were, it didn't mean well for us. I got up and woke up Michell. I saw two men: one thin, the other a bit fat. As they entered earshot I could hear the short one say "...and even if you did catch one, the contest is on the 16th, you would be lucky to house-break it, let alone get it ready for the Preliminaries."

They both had green hair and were wearing leather jackets. They might have been twins, but I didn't have time to figure it out. Upon hearing them, we climbed the nearest tree. We climbed as fas as we could, but we weren't quick enough, and they spotted us. The fat one spoke up: " a meowth and Roilu. It looks like my luck just paid off. Let's get um!" The thin one sent out a Pidgeotto, and the fat one threw a Butterfree.

Michell and I climbed to the top of the tree and hoped that it would somehow give us an advantage. We took a position on a thick branch, ready for the inevitable attack. Michell did a back-flip off the branch we were on, which caught me totally off guard. I was about to see why, but the answer hit me soon enough. Before I had a second to react, I was impaled in the gut by the Pidgeotto's dive-bomb of a peck attack. The impact slammed me against the tree, and I almost threw up. Not having time to lose my lunch, I grabbed the Pidgeotto by the neck and held on. It dove off the tree in an attempt to shake me off, but I held on.

The Pidgeotto did a few spins, but as determined as it was to shake me: I was determined to hold on. For it's final attempt at getting me off, it headed right for a tree. He clearly underestimated my intelligence, because I jumped off before he hit. After jumping form the Pidgeotto, I landed on the nearest branch and watched for Michell. He was hopping from tree to tree, trying to avoid Butterfree. The fat man shouted to the Butterfree that it should use sleep powder. Then from it's wings, erupted a huge sparkling cloud that was carried on the wind twords Michell and I. I jumped as high as I possible could, and just barely made it over the storm of anesthetic. Luckily for me, I happed to land on the Butterfree's back. I started mercilessly punching her head, but for every blow dealt, I got a slap from her whip like antenna.

I couldn't hold out longer than she could, and eventually she dove twords the ground in exhaustion. Having already passed the canopy, I had no branches left to jump to. Optionless, I got off the Butterfree and hoped that I didn't break anything important when I hit the ground. As each second passed by and the ground got closer, I got this sensation of familiarity. I didn't have time to ponder it; only to brace for impact. The second I hit the ground, I herd a loud pop as my shin bone cracked. I sat there limp and unable to move as the brothers surrounded me. I wasn't sure what they were going to do, but whatever it was, I could tell I wouldn't like it.

I got up and tried to run away, but my leg just wouldn't work. Three times I fell on my face trying to get away. The brothers laughed at how pathetic my attempt was, and that infuriated me. I couldn't run, so I turned around and made a huge aura sphere driven by my hatred of their laughter. I threw it at them as hard as I could, but in my blind rage, I missed. I was now shaking from pain, anger and fear, for I knew it was over. I was about to give up when I saw something in the distance.

Behind the brothers was a brown speck came closer, and I could see the it was Michell riding a Pidgy. They stopped behind the brothers and Mich asked the Pidgy to use Gust. The skinny one went flying while the fat one rolled past me. Seeing that their wasn't much time to get away, they landed and I got on as fast as I could.

_Hope you liked chapter 2. sorry to anyone who already read it.  
I made some major mistakes. :)_


	3. capture

**Chapter three: Capture**

As we flew away from the brother's in green I thought about what I had realized back on the ground. I had no life and nobody to care for. The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became. Just to experiment, I tried to think of all the good things about my new life. I was alive, which was better than what I had first come to believe. I had the ability to feels other's life force, which had come in handy twice and would probably help me thousands of time more. I had a friend who cares enough to ride a Pidgy to my rescue. Not only was I off to a good start, but I had a new life ahead of me. Having renewed my confidence, I turned my attention to Michell. "Mich?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't hate the nickname.

"Yah John?" he said. Not seeming to mind.

"I've been wondering where you got this Pidgy." I said.

"I have ears!" the Pidgy responded. "I herd explosions and decided to help out. It's what I do. Us wild Pokémon have to stick together, especially with one of those pitiful contests coming up soon."

"Contests?" I inquired. Probably seeming like a total moron.

"Ah," the Pidgy went on " You're new to the area aren't you? OK, here's the thing: every year before the 16th of November, the humans go out and capture as many nice looking Pokémon as they can. They train them, groom them, and prepare them for the contest. This 'Pokémon contest' is essentially a show of a Pokémon's ability. The first round is to see how spectacular they can be alone. Ya know, sorta like a talent show. The second and subsequent rounds are to see how gracefully a Pokémon can fight. It's not just a fight to see who can KO who though, it's also how beautifully they can do it. Even if your enemy is down, they can still win if they went down with enough finesse."

"If it's a big talent show," I inquired "Than why not do it? I mean: a trainer takes you in, feeds you, cares for you, cleans you, and you got to show off. I don't see how that's a bad thing."

"What your saying," the Pidgy went on "Is that you would rather give into a life of enslavement than live a free Pokémon? They don't just use you for contests ya know. They use you as their tool. If you can fly, they WILL ride you. If you can swim, you are a boat to them. If you have claws, you are no better than a machete. They use you as a tool than lock you up in a ball. You only see the light of day if they want you to. Now does that seem nice to you?"

"Now that you put it that way," I said with a hint of embarrassment "I think Ill keep my freedom."

I didn't talk much for the rest of the ride; the awkward silence of my ignorance was still ringing in my head. We flew over a nice looking clearing and decided to land there. It was mostly grass, with a few bushes tall enough to keep us out of sight. I had forgotten how badly hurt I was until I got off the Pidgy. I got off from my right, having somehow forgotten that I had a broken leg. The second my weight was on it I got a searing pain from it's two halves. It was like a jarring, burning, stab of pain all down my leg and into my butt. I collapsed instantly and whined a bit. I had forgot to tell Michell about it so- being the caring guy he is- he was at my side in seconds. "What happed to you?"he asked, concern filling both his voice and aura "You look worse than I thought."

"I broke my leg falling off that Butterfree." I explained, trying to settle his concern "Ill live. The important thing is that we got away."

"We won't get away from much else with your leg like that." he went on "wait here and don't move. I'll go find some Oran Berries to treat our wounds." Without another word, he ran off into the forest to search for medicine. I sat there and contemplated the fight. I had fought like a pro, which was shocking, seeing as I had been alive for all of six hours. And what about that event in the air? I just couldn't shake the feeling that I had done that before. It was almost like I could see the shadow of a dream overlapping the real world. I saw the forest floor coming twords me, but I felt as if it were going to be sand. Was I crazy or did it have something to do with who I used to be?

I would have thought myself into a loop-hole had it not been for this: I sensed the green brothers coming closer. I hid against a bush so they wouldn't see me. They didn't know where I was so I dared a closer look at them. From up close, I could see that they were in fact twins. The one and only difference was that one was lean and athletic, and the other had let himself go. They had the same style jacket with button collars. The same green Mohawk and shaved face. As they walked they discussed the event from their point of view. "I don't get it." said the fat one. "how is it that a wild Riolu and Meowth managed to do so much damage? We went up against them with our two best Pokémon and they were just shot."

"I don't know man," said the thin one "But I tell ya: that Riolu is something else. You see him jump? He sailed right over Butterfree's sleep powder AND landed on her back."

"Yea! I saw that!" the fat one went on "But did you get a load of the Meowth? One second he's scratching at Pidgeotto, and the next: he's a hundred feet away. I just don't get it..." they were out of earshot by then,.and I realized I got an odd satisfaction out of them wallowing in defeat.

I sat around for a bit until Michell got back. "Sorry," he said "but I could only find one." he held out a blue berry very smiler to a grape. I inspected it, and it looked edible enough.

"So what are we going to split it with?" I asked. Trying to be polite, while also attempting to hurry him.

"Split it?" he said, a bit surprised "No John, you need this twice as much as I do. Just look at your leg, it's bends in three places. It's only meant to bend twice ya know."

He was right, but I still felt bad taking it all. He had done so much for me already, and I felt I needed to repay him somehow. I could feel that he was sincere, so I reluctantly took the Oran Berry from him. "Thanks man," I said, grateful for his sacrifice "I owe you for this."

The moment I ate it, nothing happened. It tasted a little bitter, but nothing really happed. After a few seconds my leg felt funny, like it had gone numb. I looked down at it and saw that it was slowly moving back to it's original position. It stopped about half way through, and the numbness went away. Once it stopped, I was shot with incredible pain. "What in heck just happened?" I shouted to Michell "You said this was supposed to make it better, not worse! Ah! Arceus this hurts!"

"It usually does," he explained, sad and defensive "But clearly your leg is broken beyond the abilities of natural medicine. I'm afraid your going to have to keep off it for a while."

I was going to explain the impossibility of his proposal when - once again- I was startled by a human aura. This time it was a man and a woman. Both eager and alert, like they were looking for something. I laid down to hide in the bushes, but I had forgotten that I had a tail. The woman spotted me soon enough and shouted to what I guessed was her brother. I got up and- to the best of my crippled abilities- took a fighting stance. The woman said to her brother "Frank! Isn't this guy adorable? It's like a puppy with arms! Oh he would be perfect for the competition."

"He is quite cute," Said Frank "But I'm hard set on that Meowth. His coat is perfect and he looks very intelligent. Alright Amanda; let's take them."

With flash of red, a Blastoise appeared before me. I tried to talk him down. "Look buddy, I don't want any trouble." I said "I was just passing through, no need to hurt me."

"The name's Jim" Said Jim the Blastoise "and if you don't want to get hurt, than act like you are and don't resist the ball."

Before I could ask what "the ball" was, Amanda shouted that the Blastoise use tackle. He jumped at me and I hopped to the side. Not wanting to put any weight on my leg, I grabbed a cannon-like appendage coming off his shoulder. He tried to shake me off, but I held on and punched at his arm. He reached around with his other arm and threw me into the air. He than blasted about 100 gallons of water at me from his giant shoulder-cannons. He missed with the left, but the right hit me full force. It wasn't wet though, just painful. It felt less like getting hit with a lot of water, and more like slamming into a wall. The jet of water pushed me up higher and higher. eventually I pushed off of the jet and landed on a tree branch. I looked down to see him aiming another shot. I thought I was going to have to take another hit when Michell tripped him. This gave me the window I was looking for so I jumped right at him. With my fist out, and my full force behind me I landed right on his head. The force of the blow was tremendous, had he went down right away.

Just when I thought I was done, another red flash revealed a Weavile. When I saw her incredibly sharp claws, I knew I would have to be careful. "Hello," she said "My name is Jean. I'd ask for a good long fight, but with with our type differences, this is definitely going to be sudden death. A tip though: try to lose with dignity, the judges love it."

I swallowed hard. I knew that in the shape I was in, if I let her even touch me I would go down. I had to come up with a strategy and fast. Amanda said something that sounded like "dark pulse", but I didn't have time to pay attention. In an effort to keep Jean far away from me, I made an aura sphere. I didn't believe my eyes, but it looked like she had too. It was different though: while mine was pure unfiltered aura, hers seemed to be made of hatred and chaos. At any rate, we hurled them at each other. Mine being of a pure nature, absorbed the chaos of her attack and slammed right into her. She didn't seem badly hurt as she got up and rushed at me. When she was about a foot away, she swung a punch so fast I barely saw it. I didn't see it, I somehow dodged it, and got a shot off at her arm. Again I got that nostalgic feeling, and this time I could almost see green cameo on her. A second later I was back in reality, trading punches.

She swiped her claws at my face and scratched my cheek wide open. I flinched back only to have another fist come from the side. I ducked and pushed on her elbow. The odd part was that when I pushed her, I could have sworn I had a glove on. She spun around and tried to chop at my head, but I grabbed her arm and shoved it behind her back. She reached around with her free hand and hit my head, and I had to let go. I pushed her away and prepared Force Palm. She was unaware of my preparation and swung at me. I grabbed her arm, put my hand on her head, and unleashed the aura in my hand. If that didn't take her down, I didn't know what would. Sure enough she went down, her eyes oddly sized because of the concussion I had just given her. She murmured something like "vengeance..." but I couldn't hear it very well with her face on the ground.

As if I hadn't ALREADY had the crap beat out of me today, a Starmie was produced by a final red flash. Unlike the other two, this Starmie looked truly fierce. Polished to a shine with a deadly stare. I would have stepped back in terror and respect if I had a working leg to step back onto. I knew somehow that I was domed, so I followed Jean's advice and prepared to go down with dignity. I took up a solid stance and prepared for whatever was next. The Starmie jumped into the air and used Rapid Spin to get in the air. It flew around me while I hopelessly threw aura spheres at it. It was fascinating to see something that big move through the air with such finesse. I guess it comes with being a trainer's contestant. It spun around me three times before coming at me. I braced for an impact, but what really happened was much more painful. It went at me from my right, and caught me between it's first and second rows of limbs.

The attack crushed my ribs, but I could still stand. Not only was it incredible that I was even alive, but that I could stand just struck me speechless. Most of the bones I cared about were broken and I must have bled out a gallon but as long as I was able to stand, I would. Than the Starmie came around behind me and crushed my left side as well. That was definitely the crippling blow for me. The world began to spin and I felt light-headed because of the lack of blood. I was still on my feet however, and I was determined to remain so. As it's final move, the Starmie slammed right into my back, and I fell over. The world began to darken as I slowly lost my vision and consciousness.

As if my defeat weren't enough, Amanda added insult to (very serious) injury by hurling a red and white ball at my head. I had lost the ability to feel a while ago, so I just watched it bounce off me. It didn't hit the ground, but instead hovered in the air. It opened up and a red light came out. I felt a force grab me just as the world blinked out of view.


	4. domestication

**Chapter four: Domestication**

_Pop! Pop! Pop! Each shot rips through me like I'm made of mist. Bleeding out, I roll into a ditch, certain to die..._

I woke up to see a Chancy looking over me. "you gave us quite a scare," she said "but you pulled through. With time you should recover fully. You will have to stay here for a bit while your registered though."

I had no clue what she was talking about. The last thing I knew was passing out with a red and white ball bouncing off my head. "What are you talking about? Who are you?" I asked, totally confused.

"Oh! How rude of me! I'm nurse Alice," she explained "Chancey of the forth capital city Pokécenter. You are hear for critical wound treatment and new Pokémon licensing. Or at least that was the original idea..."

What do you mean?" I questioned with a nervous laugh "There are wounds beyond critical?"

"No. It's the type of wound that worried us. Our regenerators can heal scratches, bruises, even some broken bones, but... you were completely destroyed. Your leg had been shattered into five pieces and it looks like you had been shot."

"Shot?" I asked, thinking back to the dream.

"Yes, shot. Right hear." she said, pointing to a small hole in my abdomen "This is an entry wound that we can only match to human weaponry. The oddest part is that you seem to have been shot long before your other injuries. Everything I know says you wouldn't be alive to get hurt by any Pokémon."

"Well I was, and I'm alive. What do you make of that?"

"I have no idea. The only thing that would have kept you alive is the sheer determination to do so. You pushed your body harder than it was meant to, and it kept you breathing. Now tell me how you got all these injuries."

"Well I don't know how I got shot, but I can tell you how I got the other wounds." I went on to explain all the damage I had received. With each attack I described, her face became more and more grim. By the time I explained my ability to stand after the second rapid spin, she looked pale. Her aura spoke fear, confusion, and incredible surprise.

"Whats the matter Nurse?" I asked "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"If I hadn't just checked your pulse," she said "I would have said you were a ghost. The onslaught you described would have certainly knocked out any Riolu and **killed** most. Arceus knows how you survived. That you could stand up after something like that defies all medical knowledge available."

"Well if my life is unwelcome," I said with a chuckle "Than perhaps I should leave before I meet Gratiana."

"No, no, no mister. Dead or not, you are still up for registration. That, vaccines, and a check-up. Now: Name?"

"John... I don't have a last name."

"It doesn't matter, your last name is Seberson, same as you trainer Amanda. Please wait here while I get nurse Joy" She left the room and I was alone. It hadn't really hit me at the time, but she was right: It was a miracle that I was even alive. And what was with those flashbacks? It would make sense eventually, I'd just have to wait. So I stopped thinking about it and waited.

Soon enough Nurse Joy came in talking to Amanda"... he what?" I herd her say "That's impossible. Riolus don't make aura spheres. It's just beyond their abilities. I've only heard of it happening once, and it had been trained hard from birth. I'm sorry ma'am, but I just can't believe what your telling me."

"I don't understand how he did it either," Amanda explained "but what I saw was unmistakably an aura sphere. I'd love to chat more about impossible concepts, but I have to renew my hotel fee at eight. So can we please hurry this up?"

"Alright, let's start with the general measurements."

Over the next few minutes a battery of tests were preformed on me. One that required that I stand on a metal plate, and another that needed me to close my eyes and follow chancy around the room. Their were tests that drew blood from me, and vaccines that put it back. Once the test were done, Nurse joy turned to Amanda in a state of utter shock.

"Well the tests are done," she said as I breathed a sigh of relief "but they don't make sense. Tell me: how old do you think this Riolu is?"

"I'm no expert on age here," Amanda said "but If I had to guess, I'd say about five years."

"Close. His **physical **age**, **his bone growth, tail length. They all tell me he's about six. It's not his physical age that I'm concerned about though, it's his mental age. Legally, I have to search any new Pokemon's memory to ensure that they don't have an owner so I started looking. Ya see: the test is a basic sweep of the short and long term memory, and usually I have to scroll through about a year of data to find a past owner (if any), but their wasn't a year of usable data there. By everything I know: this Riolu should have two months in his short term memory, and another five years in the long term. He doesn't even have two days in his short term, but I can get bits and pieces of around thirty years in the long term. I scanned and scanned- even tried using the spare scanner- but it kept coming up the same. This Pokémon has lived thirty years, remembers a day, and looks not even a month over six."

"Your explanation makes so little sense," Amanda went on "that I'm just going to push it to the back of my mind and pretend it never happened. Is that Ok with you?"

The registration contract was brought forth.It was a bunch of redundant crap about a 'symbiotic, healthy relationship in which the parties involved grow and prosper under each-other's guidance and support'. I really didn't see another option, so I signed the form.

Nurse Alice took it and put it through a machine. It produced five copies of the form I signed, a plastic card, and a collar with tags. Two of the sheets went to Amanda, two were kept at the hospital, and the last was mailed to Capital city registration. Amanda put the card in her purse and strapped the collar to my neck. It was demeaning, but I guess it was my duty to get used to it: after all, it was going to keep other trainers from whipping balls at me. After slipping on the collar, Amanda guided me to a waiting car.

In the car was Amanda's brother, Frank, who was clearly driving us into the city. I had no time to care about Frank, because I saw Michell through the back window. I was glad to see he was Ok, and the second I got into the car we shared our stories.

As it turned out, he had been captured shortly after I had. After he had helped me take down Jim, Frank had sent out a Houndour and it chased Mitchell for about a hundred feet. When Mitch thought he had lost the Houndour, he got cocky and stopped for a bit. He hadn't seen that the Houndour had jumped into a tree and was waiting for a clear shot. Without warning, a pillar of flame shot at Mitchell, blowing him back. His fur was on fire and he was badly hurt, but he still had the strength to fight. With what Mitchell described as a "blinding" quick attack, the Houndour was struck out of the tree. Mitchell could see that his move had put the Houndour off it's game, and he unleashed a violent barrage of fury swipes. When the Houndour stopped moving, Mitch rolled in the grass to put out the fire on his back.

After he had extinguished himself, he got up to run away again. He had made it about 50 meters before he was struck by an electric blast. He described it as "A split second that seemed to last an hour. First their was a loud snap, like something had cracked inside my ear. Than all the fur on my body stood straight up. Than the pain started. It felt like every single point on my body had exploded in agony, and I flinched in every part with a muscle. I couldn't control any part of my body and it was terrifying. I looked up to see a Manectric looming over me before I was hit in the back with what felt like a ball."

When the car finally stopped, we were in the city, at the door of a hotel. It was called the "Pokémon inn" , with a large red and white symbol above a revolving door. We walked in and a woman in uniform greeted Amanda with a pleasant "welcome back". I could see the shine of the doors and the solid wood of the walls. The whole place had a very rustic feel, and it was relaxing.

It was around this moment that I had decided I would make the most out of being a Riolu. I didn't have many ideas of my own to base anything off of, but I like where my life was going. I had a new chance at life, free of whatever terrible things I might have done as a human. I could feel the emotions of others and live vicariouslythrough them. I had a trainer who I could feel was going to take good care of me. In time, I may even come to like her other Pokémon. I thought all this as we walked into a beautifully crafted elevator.

When we got to the fifth floor, we preceded down a hallway into room 562. It was a standard two-bed suit with a TV and a good enough window view. Their was a laptop and a single lamp on the desk in the back. I could see that the Sebersons were a cleanly pair, as their stuff was neatly laid out in the space between their beds. The most eye-catching feature of the room however, was that Jim was standing at the foot of Frank's bed.

"Hi," he said "may seem sudden, but you are now owned Pokémon, and it's my job to teach you what that means. It's late today though, let's discuss this over dinner."

Until that point I had forgotten how hungry I was. I quit literally couldn't remember the last meal I had, and all I had ever eaten was that strange blue berry that twisted my leg. The thought of dinner sounded great, so I gladly followed him to a cabinet. He got down a bag of what smelled like an assortment of food. He pored it into a bowl similar to the way one would pour cereal and handed it to me. It looked edible enough, and smelled fresh, so I tried one. It wasn't bad, not delicious, but not bad. I was to hungry to care about the taste though, so I quickly ate it all. After Mitchel and Jim had polished off their various bowls I decided it was time to get a few answers.

I cut the crap and said in the most straightforward way I could: "Jim, I have a few questions on how this whole 'owned Pokémon' thing is supposed to work"

"Alright little guy," he said in a masterly tone "what's on your mind?"

"Well for starters," I asked "what am I supposed to do? I mean I read the contract, but I feel that there is a lot more to be explained."

"Ah! Your purpose." he began "What a professional question to start off with. Alright, here's the deal:

"Your job is to first train your ass off, than perform at competitions. These contests will test your agility, intelligence, strength and ability to follow orders. In turn, Amanda will provide a home, food, and care for you so long as you are both living. Now I know it sounds like all work, but it actually has al lot of benefits. The contests are fun, the training isn't too hard, and she is a very nice person to have taking care of you. Now, is their anything else on your mind?"

"Yea, why did you just grab that food from the cabinet? I thought as pets that it was the owner that was supposed to do the feeding thing. I mean it's a bit demeaning, but I thought that was the way it was supposed to be."

"And that is where your wrong little Riolu. Amanda is not the average trainer. She sees that most Pokémon are smarter than humans make them out to be. She even goes as far at to lend us human technology to communicate with her. She sees us as intelligent beings that can think for ourselves, so she is only 'legally' our trainer; in all other respects, we are our as free as free can be. She confides a great deal of trust in us, in the hopes that we will do the same."

At this point, Mitchell decided to chime in by saying "That's great, but what are we supposed to do with that? We were just brought in from the forest and have nowhere to go. It's not like we would have much to do."

"Don't worry one bit about that." Jim added with a cheerful tone "I'll be more than happy to show you around so that you may take full advantage of the city and all it has to offer"

After that, we didn't talk much. We watched TV for a bit with Amanda and Frank, than it was off to bed. The sleeping arrangements were comfortable enough and I slept soundly. As I slept, many questions ran through my head. What was I before I was a Riolu? Was the concept of being an owned Pokémon going to appeal to me in the end? And what was in those thirty years that nurse Joy was telling me that were deep in my mind? I would figure it out one day, but for now, I had a good life, and I was going to enjoy it.

Thank you for reading. If you got this far: thank you very much, your in for a treat in the next chapter. Please leave any comments you had, I always love your feedback, even if you're just trolling me! :)


End file.
